DeSantis holds lead over Trump in new GOP poll 

A new poll found that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading former President Donald Trump by almost 31% if they were to run against each other in the GOP primary. 

According to the poll by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) surveying the race, DeSantis obtained 52% of the votes, compared to 27% for Trump.

When placed in a head-to-head election between DeSantis and Trump, the Florida governor received 59% of the votes, while Trump received 28%. 

The Florida governor led Trump among all demographics of those polled, signaling that Florida Republicans have changed their votes for the former President despite largely supporting him in the 2016 GOP Primary and 2020 elections.

“It’s not too surprising to see DeSantis take the lead among Republicans in his home state of Florida,” commented Dr. Michael Binder, PORL faculty director and professor of political science. 

“But it is interesting to see how his lead jumps up from 25 to 31 points ahead, once you winnow the field from 10 to two. DeSantis is much better compared to Trump at consolidating votes if the field were to narrow,” he added. 

Former United Nations envoy Nikki Haley received 4% of votes, while former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney obtained 3% and former Vice President Mike Pence received 2%, the poll found.  

Out of the contenders included in the poll, only Trump and Haley have announced their bids for the presidency. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also declared his candidacy but was not included in the poll. 

The UNF PORL poll was conducted from February 25 through March 7 and surveyed 1,452 registered voters.